Audio signals may provide information to a user regarding the source of the audio signals, both in terms of the direction from which the audio signals appear to originate and the distance at which the audio signals appear to originate. In an effort to facilitate the identification of the direction and distance to the source of the audio signals, the dominant sound source(s) that contribute to the audio signals may be identified and ambient noise may be extracted. As a result, a greater percentage of the audio signals that are heard by the user emanate from the dominant sound source(s).
In order to enhance the information provided by the audio signals regarding the distance to the source of the audio signals, the gain of the audio signals may be modified. For example, the audio signals that originate from a source closer to the user may be increased in volume, while the audio signals that originate from objects that are further away from the user are attenuated. Additionally, the diffusivity of the audio signals may be modified to enhance the information provided by the audio signals regarding the distance to the source of the audio signals. For example, audio signals that originate from sources that are closer to the user may be reproduced in a manner that is less diffuse, while audio signals that originate from sources further from the user may be reproduced with greater diffusivity.
However, humans are generally only capable of perceiving differences in the distances of the sound sources of audio signals at a range of a couple of meters with a human's accuracy in detecting differences in the distances of the sound sources of audio signals at greater distances quickly deteriorating. Thus, even if the gain and diffusivity of the audio signals are modified based upon the distance of the source of the audio signals to the user, humans may still struggle to distinguish the distances from which audio signals are generated by sources at different distances from the user once the sources are more than a couple of meters from the user. Consequently, audio signals may effectively provide information regarding the direction to the sound sources of the audio signals, but may be limited in the information recognized by humans with respect to the distance to the sound source of the audio signals, thereby limiting the user's sense of their surroundings.